


Some Other Time

by rowofstars



Series: 31 Days of Fandomas 2018 [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkwardness, Cane Porn, College, F/M, Fantasizing, Ficlet, Masturbation, Misunderstandings, Mutual Masturbation, Nudity, Prompt Fic, Renter/Landlord, Roommates, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Tension, Teacher-Student Relationship, Tumblr Prompt, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Warning for accidental Zelena
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2019-07-10 22:28:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15958883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: College student Lacey dumps her boyfriend and needs a new apartment, it just so happens her professor, Dr. Gold, has a room to rent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An anon prompted: I wish you would write a fic where Professor Gold is renting out one of his rooms in his house to one of his students.  
> I don't know what this is. I'm sorry it sucks.

Gold rapped his knuckles on the door, and fiddled with his cane while he waited in the hallway.

A voice called out from inside a few seconds before the door opened a crack.

“Hey, Dr. Gold,” said a breathless Lacey French. She brushed a loose hair back from her forehead and leaned into the doorway. “What’s up?”

He smiled. “I just wanted to see if you were settling in well.”

“I am, thank you.” Then her lips twitched. “The renovations are beautiful. I can't believe how much space there is up here. You even managed to fit in a little kitchenette!”

He inclined his head and his smile widened. “I’m glad you think so. I had it done a few months back when my son was going to move back home, but then he moved in with his girlfriend instead.”

She shrugged and smiled. “His loss.”

“I believe,” Gold said, changing the subject, “that we agreed that rent would be due on the first of the month?”

“I remember,” she said, her mouth widening into a grin. “And thank you again, this is _so_ nice of you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Then Lacey stepped back from the door, and held it open for him. There was a glass of wine in her hand and she was dressed in a pale pink cotton camisole with thin straps and a pair of leggings that clung to her thighs and backside like a second skin. 

Gold’s smile faded and he swallowed hard. He had seen her wear leggings before, but usually under long sweaters or dresses, in class or his office. She’d bring her notebook and a list of questions, and she was always willing to argue the most minor point with him. At least half the time she was right. It was just one of the many reasons why he liked and respected her so much.

Well, _liked_ was perhaps too light of a word for the burning desire he’d come to feel for Lacey French after three years of being her teacher, advisor, and now, landlord. It had start off as a harmless crush, but the teasing, flirting, and incidental touches that passed between them, had fueled its growth. It was now a bone-deep, physical and intellectual attraction that frequently left him waking up in a sweat, legs tangled in sheets, hard and aching for release while the memory of her short skirts and soft hands lingered well into the day. 

Letting her rent his newly renovated bonus room as an apartment was probably a mistake, when he found out she’d missed class because she’d dumped her loser boyfriend and was searching for a new place to live, he couldn’t help himself. He could have put her up in the empty basement flat in the building he owned near campus, rather than space in his own house, but the thought of having her so close by was too tempting.

He’d offered her the room on the spot, breaking his long standing rule of never renting to students, and his other rule about never giving discounts. He wasn’t sure how she was paying for it, since he’d never heard her talk about a job, but he didn't think it was his place to ask. Her credit check was good enough, and he trusted her not to trash the place throwing wild parties.

Lacey held his gaze and stepped back into the room, leaving the door wide open. She took a lazy sip from her wine glass, and licked her lips slowly. “Would you like to come in for a drink?”

Gold’s mind warred with itself, torn between wanting to spend a few more minutes in her company, and keeping the carefully drawn line between them intact. Having her in his house was going to be bad enough, but acting as if they could share the space was just inviting trouble. He watched as her hand came up to her shoulder, her fingers toying with the skinny strap of her shirt, as she waited for him to answer.

“I’m afraid I can’t, Miss French,” he said finally. 

Her face fell a bit and she shifted, wrapping her arms around herself and holding the wine glass to one side. “Oh, um, okay.”

He wanted to believe that her sudden change of expression was disappointment, but she was always a little hard to read. It wouldn’t due to get his hopes up that way. She could do so much better than a middle aged History professor. 

“I have two graduate lectures to prepare for,” he explained, though it was a bit of a lie as they were already well prepped and just needed to be printed. “And I need to get started on the midterm exams. Two weeks out, be here before you know it.”

That was a lie too. He was reusing a couple of exams from a decade ago with the questions adjusted for newer interpretations. But she didn’t need to know how weak and pathetic he was.

She nodded and gave him a rueful smile. “Right. I’m sure yours will be as _arduous_ as ever.”

Gold frowned slightly. “I prefer to think of them as challenging.” Then he gave her a crooked smiled. “Intellectually stimulating.”

Lacey let out a snorting laugh and shook her head, closing the distance until she was standing in the doorway again. “Well, after that tedious dissection of King Lear today, I think my brain has been _stimulated_ enough for one day.” She raised her wine glass to him, as if in a toast. “I think I’m going to get on with numbing it for a little bit before I go to bed.”

He pushed aside the thought of Lacey sleeping in his house, and bowed his head briefly. “Thank you for the invitation. Perhaps, some, uh, other time?”

The words hung in the air for a long moment, as she bit her lip, dragging her teeth over it slowly. He could feel his face heat as his eyes focused on the movement of her mouth before snapping back to meet her eyes. 

“Some other time,” she echoed as she bid him goodnight and eased the door closed.

The last glimpse he saw of her, the strap of her camisole had fallen loose over her shoulder, and she was smiling slyly. He went back to his own room and sagged against the door with a groan. It was going to be a very long semester.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon asked: Does Some Other Time!Lacey do yoga? If so, does Gold like to watch without her noticing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the impromptu Full Frontal Rumbelle Challenge that emospritelet and thatravenclawbitch started. I said I wasn't going to do anymore of this verse but here I am. I am a weak, pathetic writer, just out here begging for attention.

He was going to Hell.

Or, perhaps, he was already there? Yes, that made more sense. He was in Hell. One of his own foolish making, the road, as always, paved with the best of intentions from the moment he uttered the words, “I have an apartment you could rent, Miss French.”

For the first three weeks Gold barely knew Lacey was occupying any space in his house. He might see or hear her come and go, always using the back stairs and the back door so she could cut down the alley to the edge of campus, but apart from that they had no interactions within the confines of his pink Victorian. She joked one afternoon, as they sat in his university office, sorting through essays, that she was like Mrs. Rochester, locked away in the attic.

Except he wouldn’t have minded at all if she’d come down once in a while, perhaps for dinner. He saw some of the things she ate, and seemed mostly to subsist on take out, pizza, and ramen noodle cups. The spicy shrimp were her favorite if the case of 50 she brought home from the wholesale warehouse place was anything to go by. She seemed so proud of herself that she got them for a quarter each, and that made him wonder if he was charging her too much rent, and if he was making her financial situation worse.

He wanted to invite her to dinner, to sit in his kitchen and sip wine while he cooked for her. He wanted to make her laugh and get in arguments over translations of Homer, to see that fire in her eyes and hear her accent deepening as she got more and more insistent that she was right. 

He wondered what she’d be like to live with, really live with. Did she leave dirty dishes in the sink or her socks on the floor? Did she insist on straightening the bookshelves before she went to bed? Did she turn the TV off or fall asleep with it on?

But of all the things Gold had considered about Lacey French, he could have never anticipated what the sight of her doing yoga on his patio would do to him.

Her back arched as she rose up, keeping her hands and feet flat on the ground as she did so. The pose left her with her arse in the air, made even more noticeable by the tight black leggings she was wearing. She moved slowly and gracefully, like a dancer, as her body rolled up slowly, her arms loose until her shoulders had squared themselves. Her hands came up over her head and then behind, stretching down to between her shoulder blades. She brought one leg up, bending it at the knee behind her and then raising it higher. Her body bent forward slightly, and she reached back to grab her foot with her hands Then, in a move he’d only ever seen Olympic gymnasts and ballet dancers do, she pulled her leg up.

He turned away a few seconds later, just as she lowered herself to her knees again and stretched over the mat. Her legs were slightly spread, and the position lifted her backside suggestively. The soothing voice of the instructor she was listening to called it Downward Dog, but the only thing in his mind involving the word dog was something far filthier.

His trousers were tight and he hurried from the room before it could get worse. Images floated through his mind, how flexible she was, how graceful her body moved, how strong her legs were, and how good it would feel to have them wrapped around him, squeezing him as he - 

_Fuck._

Gold shook his head sharply and glared down at his traitorous body as he sagged against the wall. Guilt sat heavy in his gut at the way he’d ogled her.

Lacey was his former student, a teaching assistant at the university, and now his tenant. He should not be having lurid fantasies of her while she was exercising. After a few minutes, he knew the feeling wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, so he made his way upstairs for a cold shower.

* * *

 

Lacey smiled as she sat up, breathing out slowly as she stretched. She always felt good after exercising, but today there was something different, something that wasn’t an endorphin rush and the burn in her muscles.

It was probably Gold.

Since she’d moved in to the small attic apartment in his house, it felt like a weight had been lifted. Trying to find a student apartment in late September was a lost cause, and the only thing she’d been able to find in her price range was well on the other side of the city. She would have had to drive every day and pay extra for parking. In the winter it would have been hellish to say the least.

Gold’s offer was like manna from heaven, and once she moved in, she knew she wasn’t going to try very hard to find another place unless she had to. His house was lovely, a perfect mixture of old and new, and the apartment was just the right space for her. Small and cozy, but light and open at the same time. It was one large room with a bathroom at the back, and a large partition between the bedroom area and the rest of the living space. The kitchenette suited her perfectly, since she rarely did more than heat up soup or boil water for tea.

Coming home to her own little space had reinvigorated her somehow, made her feel more relaxed. Even though she was renting and still sharing a space, it felt different from just renting any old apartment in a big building with ten floors and an elevator that broke once a week just when you were trying to carrying up the groceries. Maybe it was because she was sharing with a person she trusted more than anyone else, who seemed to understand her in a way few others ever had. Maybe it was because she wanted them to share a bit more.

She sighed and rolled up her yoga mat, tucking it under her arm as she slipped through the french doors into the living room. It was foolish to think that Gold would ever consider a relationship with her. He was unconventionally handsome, funny, and brilliant, and when he swaggered into class with his cane and three-piece suit her whole body tingled. But she was an older undergrad with a GED and a few courses from a community college, working her ass off to try to get a degree that might barely pay off her student loans when she was done. He was a tenured professor with numerous published articles, who had traveled the world, was writing his own book, and even assisted Scotland Yard once. They got on well so far, and she thought maybe they could be friends eventually.

She stopped to check the mailbox before she went upstairs, but there was nothing except the usual junk and a catalog for a lingerie shop. It made her cheeks heat to think about Gold seeing it. Would he wonder if she’d ordered from it? Would he ever flip through it and imagine her in something, preferably from the back pages where the naughtier stuff was. Grinning, she made her way up to the second floor and down the hallway, towards the stairs up to the attic space.

Just then, Gold stepped out of the hall bath, wrapped in a fluffy blue towel.

Lacey gasped and dropped her mail. Gold made a high pitched noise he would later deny, and dropped his towel.

Her eyes couldn’t help themselves as they traveled down his body. He was leaner than he seemed when he wore his three piece suits, and his skin looked soft and smooth. There was no hair on his chest, but the thin, dark trail that lead down from his navel pulled her gaze right down.

She gasped again. He was - his cock was - _damn._

Her focus snapped to his face, which was bright red and frozen in something between shock and abject horror. 

“ _Shit!_ Sorry!” she exclaimed, spinning around and covering her eyes at the same time.

Gold scrambled to pick up his towel, holding it in front of him as he limped to his room as quickly as possible. He had to move passed Lacey to do it, giving her a flash of his bare arse, which made him wince again in humiliation.

She peeked between her fingers as he ducked around the corner into the bedroom, and bit her lip as she caught a flash of his backside. The door shut sharply, and she blew out a slow breath before she turned and hurried up the stairs, visions of his swaying cock and dimpled ass leaving her with a wide grin and warm ache in her core.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Gold’s post-shower, full frontal mishap, Lacey attends one of his classes and things get…suggestive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @prissyhalliwell prompted me for Lacey flirting with Gold while he was trying to teach a class and this is what happened. Welcome to my Golden Lace roommates verse. There is probably more to come. Asks and prompts welcome. Please note the rating change and some updated tags.  
> I barely spellchecked this so it’s probably awful and riddled with typos. I’m sorry.

Gold managed to avoid Lacey for three days after the incident in the hallway.

He didn’t think he could face her again, or the inevitable disgust in her eyes when she recalled the sight of him stark naked. It was entirely possible for them to never see each other at all if she used the back stairs to leave her apartment and went out through the mudroom door to the parking pad where her car sat. As it was, he’d taken to leaving about twenty minutes earlier than usual, just so he didn’t have to say good morning as they got ready to leave.

Unfortunately, it was Wednesday, which meant he’d be forced to see her as they swapped classrooms in the middle of the afternoon. He moved briskly down the corridor, laptop and materials tucked under his arm, hoping to appear in such a rush that she wouldn’t be offended if he didn’t stay to chat as he usually did. Breezing into the room, he set his computer down and flipped open the manilla folder on top of it before he realized he hadn’t seen Lacey in the hallway as expected.

Frowning, he looked up from his lecture notes to see her sitting at the back of the room, on the top tier of the seating. The middle row was open all the way up to the desk in the middle where she sat, putting her very long legs right at his eye level. Every time he would lift his head to glance around the room he’d be distracted by her crossing and uncrossing her limbs from beneath her short leather skirt. And she’d probably be distracted by the horrible memory of his nakedness.

She grinned and gave him a little wave, which he feebly returned as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

Lacey rolled her eyes. “Hello to you too.”

Gold shook his head. She didn’t seem disgusted, and he thought about just apologizing outright, but this was hardly the place to bring up what had happened. “Yes, right, sorry, Miss French. I just wasn’t expecting you to have taken a sudden interest in the history of the Middle Ages.”

She laughed. “Not so much. What part are you covering?”

He did his best not to look at her as he connected his laptop to the projector cable and laid out his notes. “The 9th century.”

“Ooooh,” she replied, leaning forward on her desk. “Saxon England and the reign of King Alfred. Maybe I should hang out here?”

“If you like...” he said, glancing up at her with some suspicion. She didn’t dislike history, but he knew the early history of England and Europe was far from her favorite period. “What’s the occasion?”

She sat back and shrugged. “Mal’s sick, so she offered to spot me 20 points on my final essay for Contemporary Lit and Cultural Theory if I covered her 11 o’clock, and since those points might be the difference between a very blah B or squeezing out an A minus…I accepted.”

“So...you’ll be staying?” he asked, swallowing hard as the first few students entered the room.

Lacey nodded and uncrossed her legs to twist sideways in the chair and lean her elbow on the narrow edge of the desk. The motion tugged on her skirt and made it ride higher on her thighs, and he could feel a trickle of sweat on the back of his neck.

“It made more sense to just stay put than trek halfway across campus to the library, stay for ten minutes, and then come all the way back.” Then she flashed a crooked smile at him and flipped open her notebook. “Think of it like me auditing the class.”

“Great,” Gold muttered under his breath, cuing up the presentation he had prepared as more students started to take their seats. None of them gave Lacey no more than a passing glance, and he hoped that once he got going on his lecture she would fade into the background and it would be like she wasn’t even there.

He was wrong. So very wrong.

“His death -” 

Lacey scribbled something in her notebook as her lips closed around the lollipop in her hand. She’d pulled it out a few minutes ago and his concentration had immediately fled. The room had three levels of chairs and desks, but it was not a large lecture hall. The tiers were relatively narrow and crowded, making it so he could easily see the way her wrist twisted as she turned the candy in her mouth, no doubt swirling it against her tongue. 

It was too easy to imagine her mouth doing the same thing to his cock, holding it, sucking it, lapping at it with her hot little tongue.

Gold coughed and slipped behind the small podium as he tried to resume teaching. “His death changed the political landscape for Alfred. There was a power vacuum among the Danes, allowing -”

A light pop could be heard as she pulled the candy out and then slurped at it with her lips. She wrote down something else, the lolli held inches away from her mouth in her other hand. As soon as she was done, her head dipped, taking it back into her mouth.

He shifted from one foot to the other and swallowed. “Allowing, um, -” His trousers were getting tight, and she looked up, meeting his eyes as she reached for the little white stick again and opened her mouth. “Allowing warlords to take Guthrum’s place, and - 

She drew the candy over her tongue, holding his gaze and pushing her tongue out so he could see how pink and wet it was. Then she caught the round ball in her teeth and smiled around it.

There was a loud clattering sound and a murmur went through the room as the students looked between each other and then to Gold. His eyes were fixed on Lacey, who very nonchalantly went back to her notebook, sucker tucked into the hollow of her cheek like nothing of any consideration had happened. Someone laughed and then he looked down, ignoring the slight bulge under his belt, to see the remote for the projector on the floor, the battery cover popped off, and two triple A batteries rolling around.

He took a deep breath and fixed the class with a hard stare. “And bringing about the end of the quiet years.”

The shifting stopped and he saw Lacey watching, her eyes looking up through the fringe of hair that fell over her forehead. He looked pointed at his watch, and felt a surge of relief when he saw it was ten till the hour.

“For next time,” he said, pausing to pound the tip of his cane against the floor. The students immediately snapped back to attention, and he affected his most authoritative tone. “The Danish attacks of the 890s, and legal reform in Wessex. Read from page 387 to 450 in Wormald by Monday.”

Gold let out a slow breath as chairs and desks squeaked, and students shuffled out of the room. He busied himself with closing down his laptop and sliding his notes back into their folder, remaining behind the podium just in case.

When he was finished, he looked up to see an empty room. Lacey had left as well, taking her bag and notebook and jacket, leaving no indication that she was returning to teach a class. He frowned and looked towards the door, half expecting to see her standing there, white stick hanging out of her mouth and a smirk on her lips. But the door was closed and he was alone.

Sighing, he bent and gathered up the projector remote and batteries, reassembling it before he left. He had two hours in his office after this, and then his afternoon graduate class, which should remain blissfully free of erotic distractions.

It puzzled him why Lacey was there if she ended up not staying for the class she was supposed to cover, but he supposed Professor Mallory might have just canceled it instead. He was surprised Lacey didn’t just slip out the back, which left him with the very confusing and strange conclusion that she had stayed intentionally. 

If that was the case, then were her antics with the sucker also intentional? The way she had opened her mouth and lewdly traced the candy down her tongue was - He shook his head and shifted his laptop and folder, holding it down by his belt. It was preposterous to assume she had done it on purpose, unless her intention was to make him embarrassed and uncomfortable. The alternative was that she wanted the very reaction she’d received, to arouse and tease, to taunt him with the possibility of sexual pleasure.

To show him what she might do to him.

Gold shivered and hurried down the hall, hoping to make it back to his office before his mind wandered further and his traitorous body followed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The incident with the lollipop behind them, Gold and Lacey look forward to the holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so bad. For the 31 Days of Fandomas prompt #11 - Bows.

Gold didn’t have to wait long after the incident with the lollipop to sort things out with Lacey.

She came to him less than a day later, and admitted that she was only trying to be funny with her little display. After he’d flashed her in the hallway, she thought it would make things less awkward, not more, and she accepted responsibility for misreading the situation. Likewise, he apologized for having to see him in such a state, and though she insisted it wasn’t an issue, he knew she was only being nice.

Still, it was enough to dispel whatever cloud had settled between them, and they moved on rather easily, maintaining status quo through the Thanksgiving holiday. Over the long weekend, she assisted with reviewing his midterm exams, and he gave her advice on how to steer her romanticism paper back on track. They shared a nice cozy meal or two, and if he spent too much time gazing at her over the length of his dining room table, she didn’t object. He’d caught her staring a time or two as well, but the look in her eyes was odd and he didn’t press it. While he understood that they couldn’t be anything more than friends, he felt like a corner had been turned.

And then came the bows.

While Gold wasn’t a Scrooge by any means, he also wasn’t one for large, ostentatious Christmas decorations, big light displays, or holiday music on repeat from Black Friday to New Year’s Day. For the most part, Lacey seemed to agree, cringing at the thought of the endless drone of songs every store played up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and wrinkling her nose adorably when he forbade any LED, motion-sensored, flickering icicle lights on his roof or animatronic reindeer in the yard.

He was fine with her outlining her street facing window with multi colored rope lights, and the artificial wreath she hung on the door to her _‘apartment,’_ as they’d started calling it, was quite fetching. It was decorated with small, faux pine cones and holly berries, that shimmered with a dusting of glitter. A big red and green plaid bow sat at the bottom with its tails hanging halfway down the door. He had to admit it was a nice, festive sight in the mornings.

But then she talked him into putting one on the banister, along with a fake pine garland on the railing. There were velvety green bows at every swag that dangled into the foyer below. After that came a wreath on the front door, with one of the largest red bows he’d ever seen. Matching ones were tied around the posts on the porch, and that was when he’d started to notice that Lacey _might_ have a thing for giant ornamental holiday bows.

Gold was about to try to confront her on this topic, and ask her to dial it back a bit, but before he could, she took him by the hand, lead him into the living room, and presented him with her pièce de résistance: a ten foot, pre-lit artificial tree set just to the left of the fireplace. The tree was covered in a tasteful combination of mostly silver and gold ornaments, with dots of red and green. He assumed she’d purchased them all as coordinated sets, unless she just happened to have that many stashed in the small closet in her apartment. Around the entire thing was a sheer gold ribbon, woven in and around some of the branches, filling in the gaps among the ornaments. A huge bow with ten loops was tied around the top, just beneath a twinkling star.

“Well,” she said, grinning widely. “What do you think?”

He blinked and looked the tree up and down again, letting his satchel fall to the floor. “It’s, um, it’s... _big?_ ”

Her face fell. “Too big?”

He met her eyes and gave her a plaintive look before looking at the tree once more. It wasn’t overly tall for the space, given that most rooms in the old Victorian had twelve foot ceilings, and the brick and marble fireplace with its heavy varnished mantle could certainly support being next to such a heavily decorated tree. It wasn’t...distasteful exactly, just more than he would have done.

She had clearly spent a lot of time on it, and he felt awful for not loving it like she clearly wanted him to.

“It’s not,” he said finally. “Really, it’s -”

Lacey worried her lip. “I, um, ran out of the boxes of ornaments, so I went looking for some. I hope you don’t mind...”

He moved closer to the tree, around to the side closest to the fireplace. There were a few ornaments he recognized from the boxes he kept in the basement, ones he rarely bothered to dig out since Neal moved away. Seeing some of them, a little tattier and worse for wear from years of a toddler turned grade schooler playing with them like toys, mixed among the newer, shinier baubles made his chest ache.

He smiled and turned to her, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze without thinking. “It’s - it’s lovely.” 

Her eyes lit up and she bounced on her feet. “Really?”

“Yes,” he replied softly, looking the tree up and down, his eyes finding more and more little things that endeared him to the whole of it. “Thank you.”

She gave his hand a squeeze back, and it was then he realized he was still holding on to her. But she didn’t let go, and instead drew him over to the fireplace where she pointed up at the candlesticks on the mantle.

“I was thinking about putting red tapers in half of them, kind of like candy canes?” She leaned to the side and bumped his shoulder, still holding his hand in hers and pulling it against her thigh as she moved. “What do you think?”

For a long moment all he could think about was how warm her hand was and how close his hand was to the edge of her skirt, to being under her skirt. He must have managed to squeak out some sort of agreeable noise, because she beamed at him, and clapped her hands together. A moment later she produced said red candles from a box on the sofa, he hadn’t noticed. He watched, dazed, as she stuck them in the holders, the hand she’d been holding curled into a fist at his side. His body was humming with unspent energy he was doing his best to ignore.

The bow thing was still on his mind, however, and he wondered what her obsession was with them. At that moment, Lacey stopped and turned to him with a strange look on her face. He groaned inwardly. He’d said it out loud and hurt her feelings, _again_. It was the second time in ten minutes, and all he wanted to do was run out of the room and lock himself in the safety of his undecorated bedroom.

“You don’t like them?” she asked, frowning when he shook his head.

“It’s not that, it’s…” He sighed. “Why _so many?_ ”

He had expected her to be offended, but she didn’t seem to be, at least not if her shrug was anything to go by.

“They make everything look like a present,” she said, smiling and stepping back to admire the tree as the light faded outside. The room started to sparkle with a golden hue, the glass and metal ornaments reflecting and making the light dance against the walls.

Gold caught himself smiling again. “Makes everything a surprise.”

Lacey spun on her heel, grinning with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Exactly.”

Later that night, Gold was staring at the wall of his room, unable to sleep for the visions of Lacey and bows and the warm glow of the fireplace. In two weeks it would be Christmas break, and there would be no respite from her presence. He wouldn’t be able to hide away in his office at the university or pretend he had an early class. Unless she kept to her room the whole time, they would be well and truly living together. He wasn’t sure he could take that.

Rolling onto his back, he forced his eyes closed and tried to breathe slowly, in and out. He pictured the tree downstairs and the ribbon woven through it. Then an image of Lacey in a gold bow popped into his mind and he ran a hand over his face. That was the last thing he needed, a fantasy version of her like a present to be unwrapped, a naughty gift just for him because he’d been so very good this year.

Groaning, he reached down and rubbed his hardening cock, knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep unless he followed the fantasy to its inevitable conclusion. He pictured her undoing the bow, pulling it the ends slowly until she was bare before him. He stroked his length, squeezing it at the base, and biting back a moan as he thought about her hand around him, her mouth, or maybe even that ribbon. Maybe she would take it and tied around his cock before she fucked him, make him watch that ridiculous, shiny bow as she slid up and down and -

Gold bit his lip and let out a low grunt as he spilled himself in his hand. Panting into the dark room, he cursed his weakness, and let the guilt twist in his gut. It wasn’t the first time he’d done that while thinking of Lacey, but that didn’t make it right. He climbed out of bed, pulling a face at the sticky wetness in his pajamas. It wasn’t fair to objectify her for his own carnal needs, not when she was his friend and his - roommate?

Shaking his head, he cleaned himself up and put on a new pair of pants before getting back in bed. His body felt more relaxed, and as he drifted in a sleepy haze, he resolved not to let his desire get the better of him again.

Upstairs, Lacey slumped against the pillows, gasping as her fingers rubbed the last tingles of pleasure from her body. She smiled as she pulled the short length of ribbon from between her legs, feeling deliciously naughty for having given in to the fantasy. The whole time she’d been decorating the tree all she could think about was tying herself up in a big bow and putting herself beneath it, waiting for Gold to unwrap her like a present.

He probably wouldn’t though, and she sighed as she rolled over and dropped the ribbon to the floor to be cleaned up in the morning. Her body was humming pleasantly, and as she wriggled down under the covers, she thought about the new holiday catalog from her favorite lingerie store. Since she wasn’t likely to get a present, or to get to _be_ someone’s present, maybe she’d buy herself something nice for Christmas.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lacey gets a package, and Gold gets a peek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so behind on these fics. :( I hate everything. For the 31 Days of Fandomas prompt #20 - Stockings.

Lacey’s leg bounced as she glanced up at the clock.

Fifteen minutes left and she still had no idea how to answer three of the questions. She huffed and frowned at the exam sheet, tapping her pen against the edge of the desk. Professor Mills's test were always challenging, but Lacey usually did well on them. This time though, it was like she studied all the things that weren’t on the test. She wanted to be done with this stupid final and done with the semester. 

It didn’t help that there was a package waiting for her at home. Well, Gold’s home. The home she sort of shared with Gold. 

The package was the kind that she wanted to get to before anyone else saw it, just in case. There was no way for anyone to leave a package at _her_ door, specifically. It would be left on the front porch, probably on the little bench. If Gold saw it, he’d bring it for her, which might mean he would figure out where it was from, and thus what was inside.

Things were less awkward now that she’d apologized for her antics and exploded Christmas decorations all over the house. Gold seemed happier the last few days, and as a result he’d been inviting her to have dinner. Afterwards, they would talk late into the evening, sometimes with a movie playing, sometimes with nothing but the crack of the fire. It felt like a real friendship now, which only made her romantic and sexual attraction to him stronger.

Hence the package.

She decided to treat herself to a little something from her favorite lingerie catalog, something she thought he might like, with all the accessories, like a garter belt and stockings, to go with it. Even if she never wore it for him, she could still pretend, still think of him when she wore it for herself. Maybe, if she was brave enough, she’d follow through on her fantasy and let him find her under the tree on Christmas morning. He wouldn’t be able to mistake her intentions then.

Because her order was over a certain amount, the company threw in one of their _toys_ for free, a shiny gold vibrator that she thought was hilariously appropriate. It could be her little “Gold” when she got all dressed up and let her fantasies run wild. Her legs pressed together just imagining how it might feel, and she looked up at the clock again to see only five minutes remaining. She blew out a breath and started writing furiously, hoping she could bullshit her way to at least a B, and make it home before Gold.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Gold sighed as he stepped up onto the porch.

There was a box by the door, sitting on the old bench. It used to be a park bench in Boston, but he found it at flea market and decided it would be a good project someday. It lived in the garage for a few months, along with the numerous other items he had plans for if he ever retired from teaching and opened an antique shop. Last summer he finally pulled the bench out, and restored the old iron work and stained the wood, thinking it would be nice to put out front and have a place to sit. Not that he ever sat out there, but it did look nice, especially now that Lacey had dressed it up with some lights and a little wreath.

He picked up the box, expecting it to be heavier than it was based on its size, and hauled it inside. In the kitchen, he set the it on the counter, and started the kettle for some tea. The package seemed familiar somehow, but he didn’t remember ordering anything. He stared at the logo for a long moment, wondering what it could be, and then turned the box around and around, trying to find the shipping label.

The contents seemed very lightweight, and he frowned, unable to find anything beyond the barcode label the shipping company had used. Then it hit him. He had ordered some sample paper and leather for an old book he wanted to repair. They would be small squares and probably no more than a couple of pounds all together. He had thought some of them were backordered until after the new year, but perhaps they had arrived early.

A little giddy at the prospect of being able to finish the book over the winter break, he took out a paring knife and used the sharp tip to slit the tape on the edges of the box and up the middle. Inside was a layer of pink tissue, which he thought was an odd choice for packing material. He folded it back and gasped.

Laid out in the box, nestled in even more pink tissue paper, was the single skimpiest lingerie set he’d ever seen, with a strappy garter belt and seamed stockings. The top portion was comprised of mostly black lace and ribbons with a shimmery gold mesh material. The panties that presumably went under it, were no more than a few strings and a triangle of the same shimmery fabric. The garter belt was also black and trimmed in gold, and laying in the middle of the box was a shiny, metallic gold colored... _thing_. It looked phallic shaped, but small, and one part seemed separated from the rest, as if it might twist or click like a pen. It had been a few years since he’d seen one, but he was pretty sure that was some sort of vibrating sex toy.

Gold swallowed hard as he reached inside the picked up a small postcard.

_Merry Christmas, Lacey! From all your friends at Exotic Wonders!  
Enjoy 10% off your next order with the code on the back of this card._

The logo on the outside was familiar because it was the same logo as Lacey’s lingerie catalog. The one she’d dropped in the hallway that had nearly given him a heart attack to pick up later. That meant this was Lacey’s. That Lacey had order this with at least some intention of wearing it. And using...it.

His mind flooded with images. Lacey in the lingerie, the sheer fabric hiding nothing and shining in the firelight. Lacey on the bed, stretched out with the shiny gold toy between her thighs, buzzing away as she cried out in ecstasy. He wanted to use it on her, tease her with it until she sobbed for release. He wanted to peel off that barely there lingerie and replace it with his mouth, working his way down to where she was warm and wet. His eyes closed and he leaned forward on the counter for a moment, until the shrill whistle of the kettle snapped him back to reality.

He moved the kettle off the burner and looked at the clock on the stove, panic rising in his gut. Lacey would be home from her exam any minute. She couldn’t know that he opened her package, that he saw her -

Moving faster than one might have thought possible for a fifty year old man with a bad leg and a cane, he went to his study and retrieved a roll of packing tape from his desk drawer. He laid the tissue paper over everything before closing the flaps. He taped the box shut, smoothing it out to make it look as untouched as possible, and then hurried to the front door to put the box back outside.

When door closed, he exhaled, feeling the thump of his heart in his chest. It was done, and she would never know. He shook his head and decided something far stronger than tea was needed.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lacey bounded up the front steps, the heels of her boots thudding loudly against the old wood.

Her package had arrived and it was still outside. Gold was home, so it must have been dropped off after he arrived home. She assumed he hadn’t heard the delivery truck and grinned at her fortune. She picked up the box and hurried inside, calling out a quick _'I’m home'_ before heading upstairs. She’d go back down in a few minutes and whine to Gold about how awful Professor Mills’ exam was, but right now she wanted to see what she ordered. She hoped it looked as good in person as it did in the catalog and online.

The tape sliced easily with her letter opener, almost too easily on the sides, and she frowned. She tipped the box up and saw the ends, which were covered in tape, were not held shut anymore. It looked like something had already cut through tape, the box wasn’t damaged in anyway. When she opened it, everything was there. Putting it out of her mind, she drew back the pink tissue paper.

It looked just as she’d hoped, hot, sexy, and totally slutty, and she grinned. Her fingers slid over the toy as she picked it up, and her eyes went wide as she saw it wasn’t just the cheap model, but the one with three different speeds. Oh, she was _definitely_ treating herself tonight. A long, hot bath, some wine, and some alone time was in order after that completely shit final exam.

But first she needed to bitch about it to Gold, and find out what was for supper. Not that she expected him to make food every night, but he promised her something to soothe her sorrows if the test didn’t go well. She planned on asking for that ridiculous baked mac and cheese he’d made last week. It might make her gain twenty pounds just looking at it, but it would be _so_ worth it.

Smiling, she headed downstairs and into the kitchen. “Hey, Gold, I totally -”

Lacey stopped just inside the door and stared at the marble covered island. The kitchen was empty, but right in the middle of the creamy white surface was a pink and black postcard. Her lips pressed together and she started to smirk. Her package _had_ been opened, and the culprit was totally busted.

Licking her lips slowly, she turned and sauntered out of the room, and headed back upstairs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lacey plans a sexy surprise for Gold, but her plans get derailed by another surprise. (Takes place immediately after the last chapter.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Suckville, population me. I failed my 31 Days event, but I'm still going to get the remaining fics done and give everything I started its ending. I have barely read this over. Sorry for all the mistakes. One more chapter for this one. For the 31 Days of Fandomas prompt #29 - Green.

Lacey hurried up the stairs, stepping lightly on her toes so Gold wouldn’t know what she was doing. 

The stairs went up over his home office, and she suspected if he was anywhere, he was hiding from here in there. That would work just fine for her plans, maybe even better. She’d fantasized about the fluffy rug in front of the fireplace that room a fair bit, how it might feel on her bare skin as Gold laid her out on it, the patterns it would leave on her skin if she knelt on it while she sucked his cock. 

Grinning, she whisked open the door to her little apartment, breezed around the partition to her bedroom space, and flipped open the box from Exotic Wonders. Her eyes roamed over the lingerie again, and she bit her lip as her stomach fluttered and flipped. This might be a complete mad, stupid, insane idea, but at least Gold would know she wanted him in no uncertain terms. If he felt the same, well, there was no time like the present.

Especially when she’d be wrapped up like _a_ present.

Lacey giggled to herself and started to undress, pulling her shirt over head and dropping it on the top of the hamper, already filled to the brim with dirty clothes. She shucked her jeans and underwear, and then picked up the bra from the box, spinning around to face the floor length mirror propped up against the wall. 

She pulled the straps up her shoulders and eyed her reflection, turning one way and then the other. The cups were small and cut low across her breasts, which both suited her petite chest, and teased a glimpse of her nipples. She licked her lips and felt the little buds harden with arousal and anticipation. The panties were next, a barely there thong that made her blush with how skimpy and dainty it was. 

The garter belt should come next, but she decided to forgo it this time. She didn’t want to have to deal with removing it if Gold was as pleased with what he saw as she hoped. So she rolled the stockings up her legs, pressing the silicone strips flat against her skin so they would hold and stay up. She looked herself up and down, trying not to be too critical. Her hips and backside weren’t getting any smaller, but everything seemed to fit well. 

For a finishing touch, Lacey put on a dark green silk robe that just came to mid thigh. She looped the belt at her waist, tying it loosely, and pulled open the top to expose the lacy edge of her bra. She was the picture of sex, every inch of her outfit screaming tear me off and fuck me. A shiver washed over her and she pressed her legs together as warmth pooled in her core.

She blew out a breath, trying to calm the flutter in her belly, and slipped on a pair of four inch, shiny black heels. She left her apartment, and moved quickly down the hall, to the top of the stairs, trying to enact her plan before she lost her nerve. As she started down the first set of steps, the doorbell rang out, and she halted, wobbling a bit on her heels as she held fast to the railing on either side. She expected to hear Gold coming to answer the door, but a second later, the lock rattled. 

Lacey’s eyes went wide as the door opened, and she started backing up the stairs. Just as she reached the top step, stumbling over it in her haste to be out of sight, she looked back over her shoulder to see a young man with a wavy mop of hair and a hoodie. Her heels thudded loudly on the hallway rug as she ducked into the hall bath and eased the door partially closed, cursing her impulsiveness.

“Papa!” Neal Gold called out, letting the front door shut behind him. “I’m home!”

He heard a noise and looked towards the stairs, catching a glimpse of a woman in heels and something green duck around the door. He frowned, and set his duffel bag down, just as his father came into the foyer.

“Neal,” Gold said, smiling widely. “What on Earth…? I wasn’t expecting to see you until the New Year.”

Neal grinned and opened his arms for a hug. “Didn’t you get my text message?”

Gold pulled back, his hands still on his son’s shoulders, and shook his head. “I - I don’t think I’ve looked at my phone since last night.”

Neal huffed and rolled his eyes. “I should have known.”

“Sorry,” Gold said, stepping back. “So, how long are you staying?”

Neal shrugged and picked up his bag. “Just until Emma gets here, if you’ll have me.”

“Of course I will!” Gold said, giving him a look. “What about Emma?”

“Uh, she’s in Boston to see her old foster mom,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “But she’s gonna come up in a couple of days. Is that cool?”

Gold nodded. “Of course, of course. Though I’m afraid the attic space I renovated for you is, uh, taken at the moment.”

“Oh yeah?” Neal said, smiling crookedly. “That have anything to do with the hot pair of legs I saw running up the stairs?”

“The what?” Gold paled. Lacey, it had to be, but what she was doing running up the stairs he had no idea. His mind flashed to the lingerie he’d found earlier, and he shook his head again. “Um, you mean Lacey?”

Neal grinned widely. “Oh...that was _Lacey?_ ” He clapped his father on the shoulder. “Lacey that you couldn’t stop talking about when you came down to visit last summer? Lacey who is totally brilliant, by your own words, and from what little I saw, gorgeous? That Lacey?”

Gold blushed and wished he could go back to his office and his whiskey. “Uh...yeah. She’s, uh, she’s renting the space. Needed to save money.”

Neal snorted and raised his eyebrows. “And she came to _you?_ The stingiest landlord in - _oof_...”

Gold shot his son a glare and pushed him towards the stairs. “That’s enough out of you.”

Neal laughed. “Where am I bunking?”

“You can take your old bedroom,” he said, following his son up the steps and to the first bedroom on the left. “Is Emma going to stay here as well?”

“Since the attic is taken, I might see if Granny has any open rooms.” Neal tossed his duffel on the bed and sat down.

“I’m sure she does.” Then he frowned. “I am going to get to meet Emma, right?”

“Yes, I promised her she’d get to meet you, so I’ll have two people kicking my ass if I don’t.” Neal grinned laid back on the bed and folded his arms under his head. “So...is Lacey the reason this place looks so festive? And that you seem to be in such a good mood?”

Gold gave him a flat look and folded his arms. “What’s your point?”

His son shrugged. “Just that you’ve had a crush on her for like two years, and now she’s basically living with you.”

“I have not -” Gold stopped at the look on his son’s face and sighed. “Look it’s not like that. She’s a - a student, and - and a friend. That’s it.”

“Mmhmm,” was Neal’s reply. “You sure about that?”

“No,” he replied, half laughing. “But that’s as far as it’s going, all right?”

“Well,” Neal said, adjusting the pillow beneath his head. “If you get to meet Emma, then I should get to meet Lacey, right?”

He sagged against the doorframe. “Fine. How about I make dinner for the three of us?”

Neal grinned and then exhaled slowly. “Sounds great, but I need a nap. That was a long drive.”

Gold nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door softly. He looked down the hall towards the door to the attic space, but then turned and walked back downstairs. He needed another glass of whiskey to knock the image of that lingerie out of his head before he could face Lacey.

In the hall bathroom, Lacey’s heart was pounding furiously. Neal had been teasing Gold about his crush - _on her_ \- and he hadn’t denied. Her head lolled back and she breathed out. It would figure she’d fall for someone so fucking infuriating, but it seemed like she was right and her feelings might not be entirely one-sided.

She waited until she heard Gold head back down the stairs, and then peeked around the edge of the bathroom door. Neal’s door was still shut, and the coast looked clear, so she scurried back to her room, holding her heels in one hand while the other held down the back of her robe. The last thing she needed was possibly flashing Neal again.

She stripped off her lingerie, being careful to lay it neatly in the box, and then tucked the whole thing under her bed. Her plans for seduction were on hold for now, but at least she’d finally get to meet Neal, and apparently his girlfriend as well. She grinned. It was going to be a nice Christmas after all.

And as soon as it was over, that box was coming back out, and Gold was getting the surprise of his life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the holidays, the tension is getting to Lacey and Gold, but of course something gets in the way before they can act on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT HAS BEEN 84 YEARS. So sorry it's taken forever to update this, or anything really. Hopefully this is me getting out of my slump. Don't hate me.

“Don’t let me interrupt.”

Lacey’s eyes went wide and she jerked against the couch cushion, her hand stilling between her legs.

Gold stepped into the small living space that was the top floor of his house with a bemused expression, and slipped a key into his pocket. Gasping, she pressed her thighs together and scrambled for the throw blanket on the back of the sofa to cover herself, but the blanket wasn’t there. Her face flushed. All her confidence in his attraction to her had gone out the window now that he was here, but she forced herself to hold his gaze as he came towards her.

Like most things in her life, Lacey’s plans for seducing Gold over the holidays hadn’t gone as planned. Christmas had been lovely, and Neal’s presence in the house brightened the place considerably. Gold had been more jovial than Lacey could have ever imagined, but Christmas morphed into New Year’s, and somewhere in those first few days of January the festive feelings ebbed. Neal left, and it was back to life and school, days that seemed to drone on forever in the dark, cold days of winter.

She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but suddenly it was February and nothing had changed. The frustrations of day to day life, living in proximity to Gold but never truly with him, was getting to her, so much so that she’d skipped out on office hours today, something she almost never did, and came home early. He must have wondered if something was wrong and come looking for her.

Whatever it was that brought him here, she was more than grateful. 

Gold stopped just in front of her and flipped his cane up, holding it by the shaft instead of the handle. Then he lowered it to her knee and pressed the handle gently against her skin on one side and then the other, urging her to open her legs. “I meant what I said. Don’t let me interrupt.” 

She licked her lips and spread herself open, sliding her fingers through her slit with a wet, slick sound. Her mouth fell open on a long, low moan as she moved over her clit, lightly trailing over the little nub. He watched, enraptured, his lips parting slightly as she pressed her middle finger inside her pussy, using it to draw out more of her arousal.

Her eyebrows arched and she slumped a little lower on the sofa cushion. “You wanna watch me _fuck_ myself, Professor Gold?” 

The words forced his eyes from her cunt to her face. His cane was still between her legs, resting on her thigh, and she reached for it, wrapping her damp fingers around it and pulling it up to her swollen folds. The shiny gold handle was cool on her fevered skin, and she let out a small gasp as it pressed against her, allowing her eyelids to flutter closed. The handle was a perfect fit, the lower part teased her entrance while the gentle curve rested against her clit. 

She guided the cane up and down, sliding through her slit with a sloppy wet sound, and pulling a long low moan from her throat. He was still holding the other end and after a few movements, she could feel added pressure and opened her eyes to find him focused intently on her. 

Gold’s jaw was clenched tight and he swallowed hard before he pulled the cane away. She let out a small, whimpering noise as the stimulation ceased and felt her pussy tense, empty and unsatisfied. The cane rose up and his head tilted as he offered it to her parted lips. Without a moment's hesitation, she leaned forward and licked her essence from the smooth brass, smirking when he made a noise just as desperate as her own.

He dropped the cane to the side and fell to his knees, crawling forward the last foot until he was between her spread legs. His hands were even warmer than her skin as they moved up her thighs, pushing them apart as he bent his head.

Lacey keened and arched her back as Gold’s hands slid beneath her, cupping her backside to lift her to his mouth as he tormented her with soft, patient licks. His tongue swept through her over and over, caressing like the gentle kiss of a lover and not the rough passion she desired. He was teasing, drawing out her pleasure, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she squeezed them shut, her leg coming up over his shoulder to curl and press at him, urging him to give her more. One hand slipped into his hair and scraped at his scalp, pulling a moan from his throat as he gave her clit a hard flick of his tongue before he pulled away.

Her strangled cry of protest made him chuckle, and she looked down to see him gazing up at her, his mouth smirking and shining.

“What do you want, Lacey?”

She pressed her lips together as he brought one hand up to cup her mound. A finger nudged at her pussy, circling her entrance and taunting her with the thought of being filled and fucked. She must have said the words out loud because a second later, he pushed two fingers inside her and curled them, shifting until she swore and lifted her hips, signaling that he’d found the right spot to make her lose her fucking mind. His mouth returned, lips closing around her clit and suckling while he slid his fingers deeper. 

Lacey’s orgasm hit with force and she rolled to the side with a sharp, choked sound, clenching her legs together. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as her body throbbed around her fingers. The fantasy slipped away with the rush of breath through her nose, and the reality she was left with made her feel empty in spite of the pleasure still thrumming in her veins.

After a few minutes, she pushed herself up and wiped her sticky hand on her t-shirt. She stood up and made her way to the bathroom to turn on the shower, pushing the faucet to the hottest setting. Steam rose up around her as she peeled off her clothes and dropped them to the floor. 

The scenario replayed itself in her mind, especially the part where she’d imagined licking her juices off the handle of his cane. Unfortunately, Gold would never barge into her space and catch her, and everything her facsimile of him did would probably having him blushing from his ears to his toes. There was a better chance of her stumbling in on him, but even that seemed a bit too far-fetched. With a sigh, she stepped into the hot spray and grinned at the thought of what she might do if the fantasy was reversed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Don’t let me interrupt.”

Gold froze. His eyes went wide as Lacey sauntered across the room, her hips swaying sinfully in her leather mini skirt. He glanced down and covered himself with his hands, attempting to hide the tented front of his trousers. Cringing, he shifted closer to the desk, hoping that if he put a physical barrier between them it would somehow save him from further embarrassment.

She’d told him this morning that she would be covering an evening lecture for Professor Vincent. He hadn’t expected her home until after eight, yet here she was, walking into his office, fresh out of his naughtiest dream. Her lips twitched as she came around the corner of the desk, and he bit back a noise as he tried to slide his chair out of the way.

“Need some...assistance, Dr. Gold?” Lacey leaned towards him, one hand planted on the desk, the other reaching for the arm of his chair. Her eyes trailed down to where he cupped his erection, and she licked her lips slowly.

“Lacey...” he said, his voice more breathless than he would have liked. “I’m - I -”

His words halted when she met his eyes, her teeth dragging over her bottom lip, shiny and red with what looked like fresh lipstick. “I can see that,” she replied, shifting off the desk and dropping to her knees.

Gold felt his chair turn and he let his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them, Lacey was between his legs, her hands pressing over his trousers as they slipped up to his hands. She gave him a small squeeze, her thumbs rubbing back and forth over his skin as she eased them away from the erection straining against his zipper.

“Please,” he said, wincing and refusing to see her face. He didn’t want to see the mockery or rejection that he knew would be there. “Lacey you - you don’t -”

“I want to,” came her soft reply, and he swallowed hard and looked down. Her expression seemed almost shy, and she was biting at her lip again, but in a more uncertain way. 

He blinked. “You do?”

Lacey grinned devilishly and started to pull his belt free of its buckle as she hummed an affirmative. “Have for a while, but I never caught you in the right moment.”

She freed his cock and stroked him up and down softly. He groaned, any further words dying on his lips as she took him in her mouth. His eyes glazed over as he watched her sink slowly down his shaft. She stopped when the head of his cock hit the back of her throat, her lips pressed tightly around him, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he focused on the feeling of her hot mouth dragging back up his length. 

One of her hands wrapped around the base of his cock where her lips couldn’t quite reach and the other pressed against his hip to keep him from thrusting upwards. She swirled her tongue and hollowed out her cheeks, tearing a whimpering cry from his throat as he fought to keep himself still, his knuckles white as he gripped the arms of the chair. The wood creaked sharply as his hips lifted, and she pulled away.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, his head lolling back as her hand took over, slipping up and down, spreading a mix of saliva and precum with her fingers.

“Do you want to fuck my mouth, _Dr._ Gold?”

Gold sat up, eyes wide, and licked his lips. She was gazing up at him almost innocently, an absurd notion given that her hand was wrapped around his cock. Her fingers tightened, squeezing him hard and drawing a long, low moan from his throat.

“You can,” she said, smiling and leaning over his lap. Her mouth hovered over his cock, warm breath teasing as her tongue flicked lightly at the head. “Let go, Rum. Just let go.”

His eyelids fluttered and he groaned loudly as she slipped him back in her mouth and holding him lightly in her lips. He lifted up experimentally, pushing a little further inside. She moaned and scraped her nails against his thigh, and it was enough to have him right on the edge of coming undone. He could feel it building as he thrust into her mouth, faster and faster. The slick slide of her hand and lips, the roughness of her tongue, was too much to take.

Gold cried out and bent forward, cupping his hand around his cock as he pressed it against his belly. Spurts of cum soaked into the fabric and slipped between his fingers, warm and sticky, as he panted and tried to catch his breath. Eventually he sat back in his chair, grimacing at the mess on the front of his shirt, and reached for the tissue box on the corner of his desk to clean himself before heading upstairs to shower and change.

He both loved and hated that particular fantasy. It felt dirty and wrong to think of Lacey that way, to use her body for his pleasure, to imagine all the filthy things she might say and do. Yet the idea that she would want him to, that she would want him at all, was too tempting to resist. Despite what Neal had tried to convince him of over Christmas break, Lacey was just a friend, and someday, if she stayed at the university, she would be a colleague when she finished her studies. He was happy to provide her a place to live, but he feared that his desires might get in the way of all that if it went on much longer. 

Perhaps, he thought, it was time to discuss other living arrangements with Miss French.

 

 

* * *

 

Lacey hitched her bag further up on her shoulder as she made her way down the hall.

She took a deep breath, smiling to herself at the scent of old wood and varnish and paper. The old building that housed the offices of the History and English departments had that same comforting smell of a library. It pulled at something inside her, the unnameable thing that drew her to words on a page, to museums, to art, to all of it. 

Her hair swayed as she shook her head. The last day had been strange. She’d stepped out of the shower after her little masturbatory fantasy with a sense of purpose. She liked Gold, and she was ready to put it out there, albeit gently. Dinner, just the two of them, somewhere that wasn’t his kitchen or their shared house, somewhere with those little votive candles sitting on white tablecloths. It had made her sappy, sentimental, even hopeful.

Turning the corner at the end of the hall, she made her way through the double doors that separated the department director’s office from the rest of the space and then stopped suddenly. The secretary was gone for the day, but that wasn’t unusual for after five on a Thursday. 

What was weird was the sound coming from Gold’s office.

It was English and high-pitched, with a trilling laughter that grated on Lacey’s ears. She frowned and stepped softly towards the half open door. Coming around the side, she peered into the room and nearly dropped her backpack.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, Rumford - can I call you _Rumford_ , darling?”

Gold glared at the woman intruding on the quiet solace of his office in the evening. “No.”

Zelena was only momentarily taken aback. “ _Dr._ Gold then?” she asked, running her fingers along his forearm. “You like a little... _formality_?”

He shifted and tried to pull away from her, but the space was small and he was trapped between her and a stack of books he’d meant to reshelve weeks ago. He didn’t mind a little clutter, especially when it was books and artifacts he’d picked up on his travels, but he was extremely cross with himself for not having cleaned up sooner. Although faced with the prospect of more uncomfortable conversation with Zelena Green or knocking twelve first editions to the floor, he knew what he’d pick.

The way she said his name made his skin crawl, and he shivered in spite of the stuffy warmth of his office. “I don’t like _anything_ ,” he snapped, throwing her another sideways glance.

She laughed, and he had to close his eyes at the irritating noise.

“Oh, come now,” she said, leaning far too close for comfort. Her breath was warm on the shell of his ear and it made his stomach turn. “I’m sure there are plenty of things you like. Maybe I could try to find a few of them...”

Her eyebrows lifted and her grin widened, showing him a flash of teeth . She looked like was going to eat him alive, and he twisted abruptly in his chair. The motion caught her knee and sent her tumbling, while behind him the stack of books thumped to the floor. On instinct, he reached out and caught her by the arm, which resulted in her being pulled into his lap.

He grunted as she came down on his bad leg, causing the muscles to tense and sending a jolt of pain through to his foot. Inside his shoe, his toes cramped, and he rocked backwards. Zelena went with him, bracing her hands on his shoulders and bringing her face entirely too close to his.

There was a noise in the doorway and they both turned their heads to see Lacey standing there. Her eyes were wide, and Gold swallowed. 

“Well,” Lacey managed, pausing to lick her lips as a sick feeling rose up in her gut. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

Gold mouth opened to say something, but he didn’t have a chance as Lacey turned and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SAID DON'T HATE ME.


End file.
